


You Can't Run on Coffee, Coco...

by sbuggbot



Category: SteamWorld Quest (Video Game)
Genre: Armilly’s being the responsible one what, Copernica is very tired, Domestic Fluff, Don't copy to another site, Exhaustion, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Pre-Canon, Sleep Deprivation, you can read their relationship either way I don’t care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 10:02:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19827841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sbuggbot/pseuds/sbuggbot
Summary: When Copernica works too hard trying to study for an upcoming exam, Armilly has to help sort her out before she makes herself sick.





	You Can't Run on Coffee, Coco...

**Author's Note:**

> Armilly and Copernica were roommates before Quest started and you can pry that headcanon from my cold, dead hands. (Although my hands tend to be cold when I'm alive anyway BUT YOU STILL AREN'T CHANGING MY MIND)

Copernica had an exam coming up soon, a big one, and it had her worried. To make things worse, it was on the part of the curriculum she hated--the theoretical side of alchemy. The pointless what-ifs, the scenarios that could never be achieved in practice...she didn’t see the point in studying it so much when she could be learning more about the practical stuff, things she’d actually be able to use for the good of the many. And if she wasn’t interested in it, it was almost impossible to focus on it.

But she couldn’t just blow it all off, not if she wanted to stay enrolled in the college. She’d already done so poorly on some of the other exams, and those didn’t have as big of an impact on her grade compared to this one.

So she the only thing she felt she really could do in this situation--force herself to study, study a lot. She’d already been working on it way more than she usually did the past several days, but today she had put the whole day aside for nothing but studying and revision. And she did, ignoring whatever signals her body gave her to take a break. She didn’t have a choice...

Which led to the current situation: Copernica slumped over the table with books, loose papers, and several empty coffee mugs all over it and the surrounding floor. Her body was becoming much less subtle with its signals since clearly, she wasn’t listening very well. Despite this (and the fact that it was pretty late now), Copernica was still trying to ignore it. She was losing.

Currently too wound up to sleep, Armilly wandered in and sighed at the sight. “Coco…” She shook her shoulder and got a half-conscious grunt in response. “I don’t think this is how studying works.”

“Sure it is,” Copernica replied as she lifted her head up to peer at Armilly, her gaze unfocused. The fact that her glasses were crooked did not help her case in the slightest. Armilly was staring at her. “...what?”

Hiding a half smirk Armilly reached over and pushed Copernica's glasses back the way they should be with a single finger.

She blinked as her vision cleared back up. “Oh.”

Confident that Copernica was past the point of retaining any further knowledge she tried to stuff in her head, Armilly lifted her from the chair. She wasn’t as strong as Galleo but she could still manage to lift and move Copernica around if need be, especially if Copernica helped some.

Unfortunately, Copernica didn’t seem to be in any condition to help out. Not if the way she remained like a limp ragdoll was anything to go off of, which it probably was. Or the fact her only notable attempt at movement was clutching her head and groaning. “Pounding” seemed like an understatement when it came to describing the headache that bloomed in her head.

“When’s the last time you ate?” Armilly asked as she hefted her up some more. She’d just have to do all the carrying herself. “Or drank something besides coffee?”

Copernica’s head lolled as she looked towards the ceiling, trying to remember. “Uh…muffin?” That would have been this morning, when Baker Eclair had just baked a fresh batch and Armilly got a few. The sun had set hours ago now. 

“ _ Copernica! _ ” Armilly cried. She shook her head. “...I don’t even wanna know how much coffee you’ve had.”

“Good, because I lost track around three.”

“Cups? Pots?”

“O’clock.”

“Coco, You’re gonna give yourself a bellyache if you keep going like this!” Armilly sounded more concerned than angry at that moment.

“Too late for that.” It was at that moment that Copernica became cognizant of the bitter taste stuck in her mouth on top of the icky feeling in her boiler. She'd undoubtedly thrown the pH off... “Eugh.”

Armilly very carefully settled her on the couch with a concerned frown. “Stay there and don’t even  _ think _ about going back to your books,” she said firmly. She turned and went into the kitchen, leaving Copernica by herself for a few moments. She propped her head up on the armrest and squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to relieve the aching behind her forehead. She tried quizzing herself but she didn’t get very far with the throbbing and the fuzziness in her head.

The only reason the reality of her poor choices didn’t fully settle in was because she was too tired to think that clearly. However, she was aware enough to realize how unwell she felt...

“Do you think I’m feverish?” Copernica asked when Armilly returned with a glass of water and a snack. “I feel warm…”

In response, Armilly put her hand on her forehead. Armilly’s hands (and the rest of her) always felt cool to the touch since Armilly herself ran several degrees cooler than most bots. “Maybe a little bit? It's hard to tell.”

“Scrap…” She did  _ not _ have time to get sick right now.

“Buuut that could just be from you going on a coffee diet!” Armilly added quickly in consolation. They both knew it wasn’t exactly the best thing for steam engines. “You might feel better after some actual food and some rest.”

“Mmm.” Copernica accepted the water, shaking a bit from leftover jitters. She took a sip ...then drank down the rest of the glass much faster than she had intended. The water just felt so nice on her mouth and throat after not drinking any that day. After that, her brain stalled due to fatigue and she just stared at the snacks blankly, casually leaning against Armilly.

“Do I need to hand feed you?” Armilly asked. There wasn't any snark in her tone; she genuinely wanted to know. She did sound a bit amused, though. "You need something in you."

Copernica's face went pinker than normal at the thought. “Nno, I can feed myself,” she said quickly, grabbing one of the snacks. Armilly had just grabbed some quick, easy to eat things, not that Copernica really cared at the moment.

After finishing the snacks she mumbled a little thank-you and got up. She began to shuffle back to her books, her brain too jumbled and tired to recognize the fact that it was jumbled up and tired.

Armilly wasn’t having it, fortunately. “No you don’t, you gotta go sleep now.” Without another word or even enough time for Copernica to say anything, Armilly scooped her up and carried her down the hall.

She really didn’t seem to be affected by the fact that Armilly was holding her at the moment. “No time, gotta...gotta study for my exam,” she mumbled as she tried to squirm out of her arms. “Can’t bomb this one, I’ll get kicked out for sure...”

“You’re stuck in a nervous loop again,” Armilly said to her. Whenever Copernica was agitated enough about something, there was a chance she’d get stuck doing some task if she thought it would improve the outcome of whatever she was dreading. Even to the point it became counterproductive. “I’m sure you’ll do good, Coco.”

Copernica stopped resisting and looked up at Armilly with genuine surprise. “You really think so?”

“I’m positive,” Armilly said with a true smile. Even though she had her arms full, she gave Copernica a few reassuring half-pats on the shoulder. “Things’ll work out.” 

Copernica seemed content enough with that answer and leaned against Armilly sleepily. She was half asleep by the time Armilly set her down but began to push herself back up before Armilly could tuck her in. Her brain had to make one last attempt at making her go study some more. She had mentally pinned herself to the task and the pin was still stuck.

Armilly paused halfway through putting the blanket over Copernica. “I will lay on top of you if I need to,” she said as she lightly pushed Copernica back into the pillow and tossed the blanket over her.

Finally the pin wiggled loose and she was able to give in to her fatigue properly. Copernica nestled into the sheets with a tired sigh. After very, very carefully taking her glasses off and setting them on the table, Armilly let Copernica be. “Night, Coco.” She got a little snore in response. That was good enough for her.

Armilly adjusted her pauldrons and yawned. She should probably get to bed, too...

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact the working title for this fic was "DANGIT COCO"
> 
> Come yell at me on my Tumblr: [sbuggbot.tumblr.com](sbuggbot.tumblr.com)


End file.
